"A great game, but falls short in many areas"

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms is the next in Cave Dog's highly anticipated series Total Annihilation. Total Annihilation: Kingdoms (TA:K) focuses on Magic and human characters, rather than the robots from the original. The graphics are amazingly well done, and the story helps keep the game fresh, rather than getting bored after hacking and slashing your enemies to pieces.

Gameplay- The gameplay in TA:K seems to be lacking. The game feels quite different, and will take some time getting use too. The game however is pretty simple to learn and get into. Fans of Real Time Strategy (RTS) games will feel right at home with the controls. The controls are also very simple so that if this is your first RTS you will be able to pick up on the controls in no time. Also my biggest gripe with this game is the system requirements. According to the box it requires a minimum of:

Pentium 233Mhz
32MB or RAM
80 MB of Hard Disk space
And a good 3-D card with at least 8MB of video memory.

Now I totally exceed or meet these requirements, and the game was running very slow. It felt like the game was playing over the internet with way too much lag. In case you're wondering I have a PII 333Mhz, 64MB of RAM, and a ATI Rage Pro with 8MB of RAM. This is totally unexceptable. A game should be able to be played without all the latest and greatest hardware, and considering my computer had trouble running this game you should be aware of this if you decide to purchase this game.

Story- The story goes as such a great leader named Garacaius had four children. Two sons, and two daughters. Garacaius was a fair leader and well loved among his people. One day he divided the land and gave them to his four children. One day he disappeared, and the children began to rule things on their own, and not as their father had wished. A war begins to erupt among the four, and you must guide the actions of the war from there. The story helps drive the game further, and keeps you on your seat wondering about the struggles of the four kingdoms. It is nicely laid out, and is one of the best I've seen to date. Although my one gripe about the story was that it jumped from one side to another too quickly. One moment you'll be playing as the forces of Veruna the next thing you know you're playing as the Zhon. Campaigns that focused on one side for a few missions, then go on to another the next would have been much better.

Audio- The music in this game is nicely well done, and complements the mood of the game quite nicely. It is by far on of the best music I have heard in a RTS game, and does not get boring or seem repetitive after hours of play. Very well done Cavedog has done with the music, and I hope they continue this in their next game.

Video- The graphics in the game seem to clash at times. The units are amazingly well done, but the units seem to clash with the background. Seemingly like they shouldn't be there in the first place. The cut-scenes are quite amazing however, their are some beautiful artwork all throughout the scenes, and are perfect for those who like a little eye-candy in their games.

Replayability- The replay value is quite high in this game. Although the single-player campaign has some replay value the biggest replay value in the game comes from multi-player gaming. Like many RTS games one of it's biggest appeals comes from playing thousands of others in battles of combat. Although the game tends to be who can make more units, and attack there opponents, their is still quite a bit of strategy, but doesn't leave much room for it.

All in all this is a great game. If it wasn't for the large minimum requirements, and the fact that the game tends to run like a slug on my computer I can probably enjoy it more. I know game companies, espeically PC game companies like to break the technology barrier, and push 3D cards, sound cards and everything else to the limits, it's leaving many people in the dust who may not have the latest 3D card or sound card. I suggest you give the game a try first. If you like the original Total Annihilation, this game is worth a look. Although at this rate I believe I will stick with the original.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99